Quilt makers across Estonia have joined forces and are at work on a large and splendid project, Patchwork Quilt 100.
It is a project in which 100 crafters, largely craft teachers and other capable makers, have decided, led by the Meieselts Meroos society and the Vastseliina Craft Association, to give Estonia 100 patchwork panels measuring 100x100 cm for its 100th birthday, which joined together would make one large patchwork quilt 100 m long.
The theme of the panels is "My Estonia today".
A video introducing the project and a longer explanation are on Hooandja, where we invite you too to support the chance to make a publication, a photo album, from these 100 craft panels that reflect our Estonia today. The album has a photograph of every panel separately, the story of how it came about and a short introduction to its author.
The panel Dance Festival
I joined the project on the very first day it was announced and my work was given the number 4.
Now I plan to share the story of my work with you stage by stage and with plenty of pictures.
Choosing the theme, the first stage and quite a puzzle. First 100 different thoughts went through my head about how to bring out something important from my own day that would speak to others too. Something bigger than my own room or the dog in the yard.
The first idea was to make something on the theme of caring for and protecting nature, since my everyday work is closely tied to thoughts of reuse and upcycling. Every day, with every material, it ticks at the back of my head: what exciting work could be thought up from this or that.
A second subject that rouses many thoughts and strong feelings in me is esoterica, including mandala patterns, colours and so on.
A third thrilling subject, though, is music, culture, folk traditions, including the song festival and the dance festival.
It so happened that my inner voice chose the last of those. Although I sing and have taken part in song festivals myself, I chose the dance festival as the theme of my panel. Because it is all so incomparably beautiful and mystical. With every year that passes they become more wonderful in my eyes, from the great procession of the song and dance festival to the last note under the song arch. And the dance festival: how that whole large, joyful, colourfully striped stadium full of people dances as one whole. All those splendid moving patterns and wonderful scenes. And all those tiny little dancers. It is one great miracle, the great miracle of our Estonia.
Estonian national dress... When we went to Italy with our choir, we were a sight in our own right in our costumes. At every step somebody came and asked permission to be photographed in our company. In this picture we are 1300 m up in the mountains, where another concert took place.
Choosing the material.
If a song or dance festival, then striped skirts as well. I have made a quilt with dancers for a dance teacher before. Then I sewed the stripes together myself.
This time I decided to use real striped fabrics.
I got in touch with the maker of striped fabrics, Olgitex, and asked how many different striped fabrics they have and whether they would be willing to sell me a small piece of every fabric. It took time, but I got a yes, and here they are: 52 different striped fabrics. Each with a label saying which region's stripes it is.
In the next post, the story of how I design the work and make a start on it.
